


Right Place at the Right Time

by Emily (JustAround)



Series: August 2018 Fic-A-Day [9]
Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Fix-It of Sorts, Jenny doesn't die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 16:57:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15890205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAround/pseuds/Emily
Summary: The last thing Richard expects when he gets to Sunnydale was the evil radiating from the place.  Especially the school.





	Right Place at the Right Time

He felt the evil radiating from the school.

As he edged his car into the parking lot, Richard ruefully thought to himself that most of his students would be quick to tell him that obviously school was evil and did he seriously not know that? The amusement faded away, thought, as the wolf in him growled at the darkness surrounding him. Anita and Jean-Claude had warned him about the Sunnydale hellmouth, but Richard was determined to find out what happened to his former coworker, who took the higher pay to move to Sunnydale before disappearing entirely.

Considering even his wolf was creeped out by the magic being released from the hellmouth, Richard surmised his former coworker was long dead.

Still, his vacation days were already alloted, and he was determined to find the full answer. Sunnydale High’s administration were less than helpful when asked about the topic over the phone, and perhaps they would be more accommodating in person.

Even if there was something just a little off with the whole situation. The pervasive rumor about the previous principal being eaten did not help with that thought.

Richard shut the car off and opened the door and got out, feeling unnerved by the almost silent evening. Even with all the negative influences back home, there was usually a sense of calmness and peace during the nights. There was something very wrong with Sunnydale.

A shiver went down his spine at the oppressive feeling of the air, and he reached for his still-open car door when a movement at the school’s entrance caught his eye. A man stood in front of the doors, hesitating slightly for a moment before grabbing hold of the the handle and pulling forcefully. The sound of the lock’s breaking sounded like a shotgun in the stillness of the night air, at least to those with superhuman senses. Richard frowned as the man turned to look at the sign, his head turned enough for Richard to see his profile.

Even from his parking spot, he could see the fangs. A vampire. But there was something wrong with his face; instead of smooth skin, ridges appeared over his face, and the one eye that Richard could see glowing yellow in the light of the half moon. The vampire disappeared into the bowels of the school as quickly as he had appeared, leaving Richard alone in the dark night.

Even a man who spent years denying the animal part of him knew danger when he saw it. There was a reason that vampire was here tonight, a reason he had broken into an empty school. Looking around the parking lot, Richard spotted a lone car sitting towards the back, dark and cold. It had obviously been there for some time; the owner of the car had to be in that school.

The vampire was after them.

Without another moment’s hesitation, Richard ran across the parking lot, his wolf howling in joy as he, for once, let go of any reservations and allowed his beast to take him into the school, following the path of the vampire. He may not have been able to save his old colleague, but he would do whatever it took to save whoever the vampire was targeting. There would be no victim here tonight.

His lack of knowledge of the layout of the school put him at a disadvantage, and once again, Richard found himself relying on the wolf to figure out in the school the others could be. The sound of glass shattering caught his attention, and before he could truly acknowledge the sound, he was already moving towards it. More crashing echoed through the school, soon followed by a man’s voice, a voice filled with anger, evil…and anticipation. He was relishing the terror he was instilling in his victim. Without noticing, Richard allowed his wolf more control and moved faster than he had ever thought possible.

He turned around a corner and headed towards a classroom - only to narrowly avoid crashing into a frantically running woman, her eyes wide with fear. If he wanted to, he could have allowed the wolf to smell the fear coming off her in waves.

He did not.

“Stay behind me,” he ordered her, as the vampire from earlier appeared.

“He’s going to kill you!” she yelled, but Richard turned back and her and glared, a hint of his beast peeking through. He didn’t know why he allowed that to come through; perhaps it was the Hellmouth. Even now, he could feel the weight of the evil pressing down on him, calling to his wolf, attempting to woo it to the darkness. He ignored it and focused on the vampire.

“Didn’t know you brought a friend, Jenny,” the vampire said, a hint of a smirk on his face. “Rupert will be quite upset to find out you had a side piece.”

“Leave him alone, Angel,” the woman - Jenny, he gathered - pleaded, her voice shaking. “He isn’t part of this.”

“I think I’ll kill him first, so you know his death is on you.”

That was all the warning Richard had. Angel leapt towards him, fangs flashing in a grin as he reached for Richard’s neck. His grin turned to a look of surprise when Richard moved just as quickly as he, using the vampire’s momentum to throw him off and into a wall. Without saying a word, Richard grabbed Jenny’s hand and together the two of them ran for the exit, the sound of heavy footsteps echoing behind them. Jenny seemed to know the school well and soon, she pushed open doors that led them into the moonlight. Their hands were still entwined as Richard pulled her towards his vehicle. She hesitated, looking to her own car. 

“Is whatever’s in there worth your life?” he exclaimed, seeing Angel almost on top of them. That seemed to clear up any hesitation and she tore open the door and slid into his car, Richard already shifting it into park before she’d fully closed the door. Behind them, he could hear the vampire bellow with rage.

As he drove away from the school, Jenny put trembling hands up to her face, closing her eyes momentarily before calming herself and looking at him. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Richard Zeeman,” he said, trying to give her a disarming smile. “I’m a teacher from St. Louis, trying to figure out the whereabouts of an old colleague.”


End file.
